Technology
New data zooms for air pollution measured by Google Street View cars
Google and Aclima, an air pollution map service, today revealed that scientists can now access a treasure trove of new data to support efforts to combat climate change and to clean up the air.
This is the result of four years of measurements taken by Google Street View vehicles equipped with Aclima sensors in California.
The dataset provides researchers with a close-up look at changes in air quality from block to block. It contains over 42 million samples of smog, soot, black carbon, nitrogen oxides, carbon dioxide and methane.
It is crucial to see where the most pollution comes from and who is the most damaging to see differences on the one road versus the other.
"We increase the pixels on the air quality picture very much. The technology or methodology was simply not available, "explains Aclima's co-founder and CEO, Davida Herzl.
In order to build what she calls a 'roving sensor network,' the company built smaller control systems which can be connected to a fleet of vehicles. In 2015, Google's StreetView cars, which took pictures of her cartes, began air quality measurements.
In order to detect what the baseline pollution level is at a given location, the vehicles equipped with Aclima sensors must drive through the same city streets over and over again.
Air quality and greenhouse gas emissions are usually seen in scientists and politicians at the city or even country level. Traditional pollution control equipment has been costly, stationary, and often confined to only a large area sensor. This is missing on a granular level which could lead to disparities in the environment and health.
"Your level of pollution may be one on a single block, and at the other, you can have eight times higher levels of pollution. These hotspots will last for years, "says Herzl. "Where you live, it really matters."
Studies found that people living in areas with high deprivation or a long history with homeless discrimination are more likely to experience the negative effects of air pollution and the impact on health.
In order to shape a fair response, governments must be able to understand where those pollution hotspots lie. A 2018 study explores the correlation between street air quality and cardiac disease in Oakland , California, utilized some of the data collected by Aclima and Google.
This report found that the risk of cardiovascular problems for elderly people exposed to more air transport pollution varied from street to street.
According to Herzl, more data may reveal environmental injustices. "That's literally invisible if we don't have the data, we don't see it," says She.
The newly released dataset can be accessed free by researchers. Google and Aclima are expected to extend their data collection to include 50 new cars this year.
